Turkey’s water cut leaves Hasaka kids thirsty

Under a merciless sun, in a suffocating noon, a young girl named Maryam, not yet fifteen, stands with a light scarf covering her head. She struggles with all her strength to lift a bright yellow plastic water gallon. Her eyes reflect a mix of exhaustion and determination, her small hand gripping the gallon as if it holds her entire family's survival.

Behind her, other children stand in line. One fills another gallon from a red water tank provided by the local administration and organizations to ease the residents’ burden. Another bends down to carry a gallon of water. All are exhausted, tasked with a mission far beyond their years, yet they step up to survive the thirst.

These children are not on a fleeting errand or a summer adventure but in a daily struggle they’ve grown accustomed to since Hasakah was stripped of its water. Since Turkey’s occupation of Serê Kaniyê in 2019, the taps of the Allouk water station, the main water source, were shut off. Water became a political pressure tool. Over one and a half million people in Hasaka and its countryside were left to face thirst, without a global voice to defend their human right or push for a solution.

Sometimes, Maryam waits three or four hours for her turn, saying in a voice full of innocence, “If I can’t carry the water, I’ll return with nothing.”

Maryam and the children behind her represent thousands who know nothing of politics but know the path to the water point better than their school lessons. Like other children, Maryam tightens her grip to push a cart loaded with gallons, walking through alleys filled with the sounds of thirsty people and cracked walls silently watching the children’s footsteps battle the scorching asphalt.

a.k

ANHA